Red Leaf Festival of Mao County
The Red Leaf Festival of Mao County is held in November of each year in Songping Valley scenic spot. The main activities includes the local people’s joyful dancing around the raging fire， watching the red leaves， appreciating the snow and ice， enjoying the performance， Guozhuang(local entertaining singing and dancing activity)， and tasting the roasted lamb. During the activities， the red leaves stretches across the Songping valley with great variety and brilliance. Within the scenic areas， the ecological environment is original ancient， the group peaks stand proudly and the vegetation is structured distinctively， dominated by birch， spruce， fir and mountain dwarf shrubs. The flowers in the valley fight for blooming， coinciding with the fragrance from wild flowers and groups of oxen and horses. The six Haizi(means ocean) are connected by the jade belt-like valley， making the spots set off each other. With view next to view， you will enjoy endlessly. When walking through it， you would have such feeling as wandering into a gallery of mountains and waters.
The main attraction: clear water， blue sky with red leaves shining.
There is a huge white rock on the south bank of White Rock Ocean， nearly 2 meters high， like a horse-shaped pile. According to the legend， the rock is growing every year and it is used as a bolt to fasten the sea horse. HaiZi is surrounded by the green forest， with the water and sky integrated as a whole. It’s even beautiful when the woods by water are dyed by the sunshine， which is strengthened by the fire-like red leaves， clear water and blue sky. The lake is clear and blue， just like a mirror， and the algae lie crossly in the basin. Whenever the sun shines on the water surface or the rain drops fall into the lake， the dimples will flow with sparkles， which is colorful and dazzling gorgeous. Facing such views， the good idea is to act immediately rather than think only!
Local Food
Visitors can enjoy a wealth of local flavor meals of Qiang， such as the seasonal wild treasures， the specific Za wine of Qiang in Mao county， the corn Ciba ，as well as the mixed mission， the potato Ciba， the caterpillar fungus ducks， the shellfish hens， the yam ribs， Chinese wolfberry and mutton soup， the mutton-chip attached soup， the steamed cocks with Angelica and the fried meat with lanceolate. In the Tibetan region， the specific foods are the hand-grabbing meat， Blood Sausage， Ma tea， milk， butter tea， as well as the fragrance of highland barley Za wine.
Traffic along the way
It’s about 250 km away from Chengdu to the scenic spot of Songping. 55 km of highway first before reaching the city of Dujiangyan， then traveling along the No.9 ring road to Mao county， again the No.9 ring road after 8 km ， you will get into the road of scenery ， 10 km away from the destination， Songping spot. As an individual tourist， after a bus ride from Chengdu to Songpan county， you can take the scheduled bus back to Huanglong， then to Songping Valley.
The first section of Red Leave Festival is sponsored by the People‘s Government of Mao County， the Tourism Bureau of Mao County and the Jiuzhou motorcar club. It was held successfully in Songping on October 20， 2007， lasting for a month.
Wa’er’e’zu Festival of Qiang
Wa’er’e’zu is an ancient traditional festival of Qiang， mainly organized by women. It dates back to the multi-religious worship of Qiang in ancient time. At the turn from Qin Dynasty to the early Han Dynasty， the Qiang ethnic moved from Hehuang to the upper and middle reaches of Minjiang River. During the long development of nomadic， agricultural culture， it gradually formed the Wa’er’e’zu， which is displayed by praying the Shalang Goddess for song and dance， and therefore has a unique folk connotation.
During the festival， the women will take part in the activities， dressed in the colorful national costumes， wearing the silver jewelry， regardless of age. It’s unusually warm.
The procedure mainly includes:
1. Before the day: Women of the village make the sun-like steamed bun， moon-like steamed bun and hill-like steamed bun in order to offer the Goddess. They sit around the fire， accompanied by the uncle (mother’s brother); uncle opens forum， release message before making offerings.
2. On the day: Go to worship the Goddess on the peak led by the uncle; open the ceremony of offering the sacrifices and killing goats; the uncle prays and thanks God by singing; dance and sing cited by someone; the aged woman with prestige tells stories about Sister Shalang， the Goddess of dance and song， in order to remind people of the traditions ， such as love ， birth， home， etc. with the men cooking and waiting next; play songs and dances.
On lunar May 3， some purified women holding the tribute of incense and wax， alcohol， steamed bun， and so on， led by the chief ， go in groups to the stone tower where lies the Goddess. They ask the Goddess for songs and dances. The involved activity is called “begging songs”. Back to the village， the news is passed from door to door， so called “welcoming songs”. On lunar May the fourth， the women are engaged in preparing food for the next day; unmarried women are well preparing the gift for their lovers. On the early morning of the fifth， people open the Za wine of early days， praying for prosperity of villagers and livestock. Salang(a kind of dance) is the main activity， led by the elderly women and passed from generation to generation. Meanwhile， the men as companions are singing and dancing， serving the Za wine， cured meat and steamed bun. At rest time， the married women will teach the young women knowledge of love and household affairs while the lovers stroll murmuring and some women are talking freely. Tired， the women are sitting in twos and threes， tasting food， drinking Za wine， talking about life. The celebration will continue for 3 days. During the days， the women are immersed in dancing， but the field things and the family things are left to men.
According to the ancient tradition， if one woman dies between 13 and 50 this year， the festival has to be cancelled.
During the activities， the uncle (here referred to mother’s brother) take part from beginning to end ， which reflects the female group acting and uncle’s high position as characteristics of the ancient Qiang， with strong original maternal worship. It has high value for understanding the culture of Qiang， the goddess worship and women customs. The way of the festival’s passing from generation to generation has an important research value and plays an active role for the development of Qiang ethnic folk culture and art， especially for Qiang folk dance.
Wa’er’e’zu is a folk festival with the women as main roles. It integrates song and dance， food， religion， customs， clothing， building， and even more， as a whole. So it has a high value and aesthetic appeal by means of more fully reflecting the broad outline of the Qiang culture. And it is fairly rare in the Qiang ethnic ghettos considering the long history of the development of Qiang. By researching the Wa’er’e’zu festival， you can understand the Qiang ethnic religion and culture deeply， which is very important for the study of Qiang goddess worship， folk songs， original dance and education.
States attaches great importance to the protection of intangible cultural heritage. On May 20， 2006， the festival is recognized by the State Council as state-level intangible cultural heritage in the first list.
The Ceremony of Mountain Offer
Brief introduction: the Ceremony of Mountain Offer， also named the Ceremony of Mountain Turning， is the most solemn holiday of Qiang nation. It’s held in spring and autumn， praying for good weather and thanking God for blessing respectively. In fact， it’s a farming activity， but has a strong religious flavor and reflects the glorious culture of ancient mystery. The time of ceremony is not uniform. It’s possible in lunar January， April or May， or held once， twice even three times a year. The ritual is complex and the offerings are different depending on the locations， as well as the legend， Totem. It is broadly classified into three kinds， that is， “offer of goat”， “offer of ox” and “offer of dog”. The main ceremony is usually held in the empty land around by woods. In some places， the ceremony of road offer is after. It lasts for three days during which it is banned to cut， dig， hunt， and so on.
The process:
The ceremony is held annually in lunar June 6. By this way people of Qiang not only express their admirations for the heaven but also hope that the holy wood could bring them cattle and grain as rich as possible. By then， the wizard Shibi wears elaborately， holding the holy stick. The main instrument is the drum made of sheep clothing. The offerings usually include the killed sheep， dogs and chickens. Whenever the Big Ceremony is coming， which is held one time every three years， people will sacrifice the holy ox. The ceremony is turning round the God Tower， about 3-4 meters high， like a cone， with a huge white stone at the top ， surrounded by small ones， which is the symbol of the nation‘s faith.
The ceremony of Mountain Offer is led by Shibi to turn around the centre-fire， reciting in rhyme. If meeting the Big Ceremony， once every three years， the Shibis will have to chant for ancient Qiang tribes， Qiang movement， Qiang heroes， which lasts for 1 or 2 days. | 
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